Will the rear-engine Volkswagen be revived?
When Volkswagen created the New Beetle in the late '90s, it revived the iconic shape of the original people's car, but not much else. The original was pushed around by an air-cooled boxer four-cylinder that ultimately provided the basis for the first Porsche engines and countless dune buggies and kit cars. The modern edition was essentially nothing more than a nostalgic looking body on a run of the mill Golf platform.
It now seems possible that the new entry level car VW is working on may be more like the original Beetle than the Lupo that it was supposed to replace. The baby VeeDub could turn out to have it's engine sitting on top of the rear axle much like the Smart ForTwo and come in Beetle-esque and sedan body styles. The emerging market variant would be powered by a two-cylinder engine, while Europe and the US would get a direct injected, turbocharged three cylinder FSI. The cars would be kept simple with a target price of $10,000 to $14,000.
If you can't wait until the end of the decade for rear engine VeeDub and you're in South-East Michigan, you might want to head down to Riverside Park in Ypsilanti for the Michigan Vintage Volkswagen Festival on Sunday May 13 from 10-4. This year they're celebrating fifty years of the Karmann Ghia.
[Source: Automobile via eGMCarTech]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
FrankTheCrank 4:24PM (5/08/2007)
No.
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Paul Y 4:31PM (5/08/2007)
This would be excellent news if VW could figure out how to get back to making 1930s technology. They did that extremely well.
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Lee Roy Brandon III 4:33PM (5/08/2007)
The May issue of CAR has a 2 page article on the potential new rear-engine VW (pp.28-29) with a nice rendering of a green two door with prominent rear air scoops.
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tcc3 5:02PM (5/08/2007)
They need a new ghia. It'd be nice if they had a sexy little sport coupe. What the Ghia wanted to be but couldnt due to the contraints of the beetle.
The GTI is fine as a "hot hatch" but its not much in the looks dept.
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Typesbad 5:11PM (5/08/2007)
Just give it a better heater this time please.
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jk 5:14PM (5/08/2007)
This is VW we're talking about. They'll probably build it and it will probably be sooo cool. The US market will wind up with a DCX Caliber based s*it can.
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Bill 5:41PM (5/08/2007)
Every year VW steps further and further back. They can't seem to move beyond their relics, the Rabbit and now the Beetle.
Maybe they will try to revive Hitler next!
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Barney 5:37PM (5/08/2007)
The air-cooled didn't pass emissions and the plumbing for water cooling the rear engine, was a nightmare. The smaller engine would probably work out well if the new-old beetle was kept very light. Sadly North Americans will still want PS,AC and electric seats/windows. It will be a hard sell here without all the extras that we've become accustomed to.
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Turbofrog 7:08PM (5/08/2007)
Sounds like a great idea to me. The package works very well for minicars like the smart, and that looks exactly like the market VW is after with this. No one said anything about air-cooling or any other retro nonsense.
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Smith 9:57PM (5/08/2007)
VW should have kept building the org. model down in Mexico and put proper emmision equip. on it and sold it north of the border for cheap!
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Barney 11:24PM (5/08/2007)
Re #8 "Maybe they will try to revive Hitler next!"'
Wouldn't that leave Henry Ford lonely in his grave?
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Bob 12:38AM (5/09/2007)
i think yes. VW should bring it back. what i saw 2 months ago wasn't bad so yes bring it back. http://mininova.wordpress.com/
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GOT 2:11AM (5/09/2007)
Sigh... the question should be, "Will VW genius ever be revived"? How is that they were so great and now so far from it?
The success of the Beetle were ONE: it's looks, TWO: ease of use and THREE: modability. How is bringing back the air-cool-rear-engine going to accomplish any of that? It might be easy, but with today’s tech, the water-cooled engine can be as easy... or rather it should be.
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ClutchCargo 4:18PM (5/09/2007)
I have really fond memories of the forest green '74 super that my parents bought new. I never remember the car having a bad heater. I do remember my red white and blue tennis shoes melting to the rear floor by the little round heat out let. Good thing feet were not in them. Everyone is trying to bring back the affordable car everywhere but the USA. I wish they would here too. I know the original is not possible again sadly.
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bmoredlj 10:32AM (5/09/2007)
The New Beetle is a disgrace to its heritage and always has been.
I feel that if that same old beetle built in Mexico until 2003 returned to the states it would sell quite well.
Barring that, VW should go back to its roots and make a light, bare-bones, durable and dirt-cheap sedan like the beetle to reel in entry-level buyers.
The Fit, Versa, Aveo, Rio, Accent, Yaris, and soon the Smart are all competing in a segment VW has abandoned in the U.S., which is a shame.
Their name means people's car, for crying out loud; they should get back to building cars for the people already
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Jorge 11:03AM (5/09/2007)
Re # 10, cudos that. Im from Mexico, I dont know why they couldnt update the emissions system, it was the only thing needed for a simple, reliable car. I know there are many people that dont like it, but there are uglier cars that are not that good and are still on the market.
I love my 1975 beetle, its a great car, and has never let me down. It has been in my family since the time my father got it from the dealer. Now is my weekends car.
BTW, I went to Germany a couple of weeks ago and had the oportunity to go to Wolfsburg to the Stiftung Volkswagen Automuseum (not the Autostadt) they have great cars there, but many of them are in not the best condition for a museum. I have many pictures, if someone would like to see them let me know and I could post them somewhere on the web where they can be seen.
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